Microdynamics of Bilateral Ethnic Mobilization.

Instrumentalist arguments prioritize the actions of elites in ethnic mobilization, whereas social structure accounts examine why elite appeals might succeed. Each remains incomplete. In this paper, an account is presented of the interactions between elites and masses that drive bilateral ethnic mobilization processes. Event analysis and scaling are used to examine tense instances of Hungarian and Romanian ethnic mobilization in Romania in 1990 and 1992, one of which turned violent. Two forms of comparison are made possible: a comparison of action trajectories by intensity over time, and a comparison of transactions between actors at different points in time. These transaction patterns serve as the building blocks of contentious processes. The patterns identified here are mass-first mobilization, mass-elite tandem for minorities, and cross-group emulation in mobilization and demobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]